Yeah, there are—and once you start noticing them, you’ll see them everywhere. Cities, universities, transit agencies, and private building owners have been installing public benches that are specifically designed to stop skateboarders from grinding on the edges. These are often called anti-skateboard benches, skate-deterrent benches, or skate-stopper benches. The broader term is hostile architecture or defensive urban design, because the same features often discourage sleeping or other uses.
In urban bench design, the goal is simple: remove the smooth, continuous edge a skateboard needs to grind or slide. Designers do that in a few common ways.
- Metal brackets or knobs: This is probably the most obvious method. Small steel bumps, tabs, or brackets are bolted along the edges and corners of a bench. They don't interfere much with sitting, but they make grinding impossible or painful.
- Center armrests and dividers: Many public benches now have an armrest in the middle or multiple dividers between seats. These break up the bench into shorter sections, so a skateboarder can't get a long, clean grind along the full length.
- Wavy, curved, or sloped profiles: Some benches are designed with flowing or angled shapes that look stylish but have no flat, level edge to lock onto. A wavy metal profile can also make sliding unstable.
- Textured or rough finishes: Materials like recycled plastic, coarse concrete, ribbed metal, or stone with a rough aggregate surface create friction. Grinding feels slow, loud, and sticky, which usually pushes skaters to look for better spots.
- Raised lips and rounded edges: Instead of a sharp right-angle edge, some benches have a rounded or raised lip that makes it harder to balance a truck on the edge.
Are they effective? For the most part, yes. They don't always eliminate skateboarding in an area, but they make a bench much less attractive as a skate obstacle. Skaters generally move on to actual skateparks or untreated ledges. A determined skater might still find a way, but the majority won't bother with a bench that has metal bumps or a center armrest blocking the line.
That said, these designs are controversial. Critics call them hostile architecture because the same armrests and dividers that stop grinding also make it difficult or impossible for a person to lie down or rest comfortably. Homeless advocates, disability advocates, and public-space activists have pushed back against aggressive anti-skate and anti-sleep benches, arguing that public seating should be welcoming rather than defensive. Some cities have started using less punitive designs that still reduce grinding but don't make benches unusable for everyone else.
So yes, if you see metal bumps, center armrests, wavy edges, or rough surfaces on a city bench, it is usually deliberate. Those features are not there by accident—they are there to stop skateboarders from grinding.